How to write an appealing boilerplate

by Harshitha K | Aug 22, 2019 | Content Marketing, Marketing, Public relations

Reporters are on the lookout for a piece of information that acts as a bird’s eye view of the company. It is necessary to keep the information to the point and refrain from including less important information. However, while you’re engaged in the process, it can be hard to narrow down the vast amount of company information to a short piece of content. A boilerplate contains only those facts and pieces of information that are vital to describe the company precisely.

Generally included at the end of a press release, a boilerplate should consist of not more than 3-4 sentences. It allows the reader to gain knowledge about the company that is not just concise, but also meaningful and adequate. The idea behind a boilerplate is to keep information comprehensive and not cluttered.

An ideal boilerplate or simply put, an “About us” statement should integrate relevant information that the media reporters and the consumer audiences can refer. If you are aiming to write a wholesome boilerplate, you should include the following details:

When was the company founded?

Information about the time when the company was established, helps the readers know how long the company has been in existence. Journalists often describe a company based on the number of years of experience the company has in the market.

Where is it located?

When the location of the company is specified, audiences looking for a service provider within their locality will be interested. It is easier to work with a company that is within the confines of city/place than looking farther away.

Is it a publicly held/ privately held/ start-up organization?

The nature of an organization helps the journalists convey the type of work that the company t. Additionally, specifying what sector it belongs to will help the audiences estimate the feasibility of being associated with such a company.

What are the core products and services offered?

The most crucial element of a boilerplate is the catalogue of products and services offered. The readers can analyze the products and then select one that is most relevant to them.

Who is the target audience?

Stating the stakeholders that the company caters to will give clarity to the reader and thereby help them draw any conclusions.

Has the company been awarded?

Achievements entitled to a company, if mentioned, might prove to be useful when journalists elucidate more on the company to the readers. It gives an instant facelift to the company and helps the client decide in favour of the company.

What is the Unique Selling Proposition(USP)?

The crux of an ideal boilerplate is the USP or the Unique Selling Proposition, which determines whether or not the reader finds your company appealing enough to consider working with. The USP must state what makes the company different from the others in the market.

Finding the right mix of facts that constitute a boilerplate needs to be remembered. The arrangement and order of these elements are also crucial that they impact the entire look of the boilerplate.

Even though boilerplates are typically used in press releases, they make a good fit for a company’s sales pitch, brochure and also on a website’s “About Us” section.

Here are some examples of well-written boilerplates that you could use as a reference:

NETFLIX:

Netflix is the world’s leading internet entertainment service with 139 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any Internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.

Refer: https://www.netflixinvestor.com/ir-overview/profile/default.aspx

NIKE:

NIKE, Inc., based near Beaverton, Oregon, is the world’s leading designer, marketer, and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Wholly-owned NIKE, Inc. subsidiary brands include Converse, which designs, markets and distributes athletic lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories; and Hurley, which designs, markets and distributes surf and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories. For more information, NIKE, Inc.’s earnings releases and other financial information are available on the Internet at http://investors.NIKE.com. Individuals can also visit http://news.NIKE.com and follow @NIKE

Here’s a boilerplate for our agency, Fablesquare:

Fablesquare is a full-service marketing agency based in Bangalore, India. Incorporated in October 2016, Fablesqaure caters to the marketing requirements of both B2B and B2C businesses. Fablesqaure provides end-to-end marketing services such as Branding, Digital Marketing, Website design, Content marketing, Influencer marketing, and Public relations. Since its inception, Fablesqaure has worked with 80+ clients and has successfully completed over 175 projects.

For more information, visit https://www.fablesquare.com/.

New Media and its impact on PR practice

by Mangal Karnad | Sep 29, 2018 | Public relations, Thought Leadership

Welcome to the Age of New Media. Gone are the days when we had select few print publications, a handful of TV Channels and a fixed style of news reporting. The advent of the Digital Age has bought in an exhaustive list of new media thereby expanding the scope of coverage and opportunities.

Traditionally, media companies presented factual, unbiased reporting to their readers or viewers in order to provide them information. Today anyone with a smartphone or a tablet can create and share news or information to reach masses through various social media platforms.

However, this doesn’t mean that journalism is dead. With a shift in demographics like higher disposable incomes and the need to be well-informed, the new age media has the onerous task of living up to it. The new age millennial has a shorter attention span, and they are always on the hunt for compelling and gripping stories and content. Hence, new age journalism is all about reaching a larger audience in a shorter period time with exciting content.

Role of a Journalist or a PR professional in the age of new media:

Journalism today is no more about just writing and speaking. New age journalists rely both on verbal and visual communication skills and keep themselves updated with various forms of social media to tell their stories. Often, they are needed to take photographs or shoot videos, design the layout for the website or promote their message through social media. The traditional media houses are catching up fast and are exploiting the new media to expand their reach. PR professionals need to be creative and sharpen their pitching skills.

The media today needs a PR person more than before. Journalists are constantly on the lookout for new stories and information, and they pick up interesting stories from the social media feeds! PR firms need to be on the alert for such opportunities for their clients. The ordinary pitch isn’t going to work much longer. A creative pitch which is short, crisp, and accompanied by videos and infographics might be preferred.

Influence of Social media:

With the changing times, media has evolved too. As everyone is glued on to his or her smartphones today, the source of breaking news is no more the Newspaper or TV, but the various social media handles that one owns. Journalists share their personal opinion or a story more openly on social media than via traditional medium. Therefore, there is less fact-checking involved here as there is a constant need to upload new information before it gets published (by someone else) and becomes stale. No wonder for publications the order of the day is “Publish first and then correct if necessary.” Twitter is considered as a “news network” as it is the social media platform where generally news breaks first.

Social media has influenced public relation practitioners too, and the industry has seen some dramatic changes as well as new opportunities for communicating with clients and businesses. As journalists are more active on social media and pick stories from these mediums, therefore PR people should be active on these mediums too and portray and post newsworthy content on behalf of their clients in such a way that it is of interest to the media.

It is important to grasp these new channels of communication so that we can effectively use them as a means to communicate with the public and to see how it affects the PR practice. The journalism and PR programs in colleges need to implement these changes in the course curriculum to equip future practitioners with the knowledge and skills required to handle these media.

Gandhi – The Master PR Practitioner (Salt march PR/Dandi PR)

by Mangal Karnad | Nov 17, 2017 | Personal Branding, Branding, Public relations, Thought Leadership

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who is hailed as the father of our nation, in my opinion, is one of the most effective PR practitioners. He was a master strategist and understood his target audience very well and crafted his communication accordingly. Although he held no office, he was able to captivate the minds of India’s millions and took control of Congress and its elite, sophisticated and cynical leadership. It was his passion, careful consideration and discipline which got him the recognition which has well sustained beyond the man himself. Below are the reasons why I think he was the ultimate PR practitioner and a Brand:

The Salt March

The Salt march also popularly known as the Dandi March, was one of his most powerful campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience which had a massive support. The Salt Acts imposed on Indians prohibited them from collecting or selling salt. Indians were forced to buy salt which was a natural resource and a staple in the Indian diet which was needed to replace the salt lost by sweating. The British, who, in addition to exercising a monopoly over the manufacture and sale of salt, also imposed a salt tax. It contributed to almost 8.2% of the British Raj tax revenue. Gandhi, the brilliant strategist, thought that an item of daily use could resonate well with all classes of citizens of India and he chose mass civil disobedience to tackle the issue. In March 1930 Gandhi and 78 of his close associates marched from Sabarmati ashram, some 240 miles to the Arabian sea to take a pinch of salt. He informed the government well in advance about his intention to break the law to make salt. The British government threw people in jail for violating the law and censored the press. Despite that, the Media covered the event in great detail and people across the nation followed suit even though Gandhi was already in prison. Jails in India were filled with 60,000 Satyagrahis whom the British imprisoned.

Effective use of media

Gandhi was probably one of the greatest journalists of all time, and the publications he ran and edited were probably the greatest ones the world has known. In 1904 in South Africa, he had taken over the editorship of the ‘Indian Opinion’ and published it in English, Tamil, and Gujarati, sometimes running the press himself. He is known to have written on all subjects; he wrote simply, clearly and forcefully. His writing was passionate and burning indignation. He believed that the objective of a newspaper, is to understand the popular feeling and give expression to it; to arouse among the people certain desirable sentiments, and the third is to be fearless and to expose popular defects. He took up journalism more as a service to the public and he was devoid of any personal ambitions. He used his writing as a vehicle to present his various experiments to the public.

Signature style

He believed in powerful symbols and designed a headgear as a symbol of Indian unity which later came to be known as the Gandhi Topi. His own dress was one of the foremost and most visible symbols he adopted–the loincloth and shawl of homespun fabric –which he deliberately chose, after careful consideration, to show solidarity with India’s grinding poverty. We all know that clothing is an important way to communicate one’s personality and not merely playing a role or dressing solely to impress. This became his trademark attire which eventually got him a name of ‘half-naked fakir’ from Sir Winston Churchill. By the time that India’s independence was won, the homespun cloth or Khadi was inextricably woven into the fabric of India’s life. Even today Khadi is the unofficial uniform of India’s political leaders.

Powerful Orator

Gandhi is seen as one of the world’s great inspiring public speakers. He could inspire all classes of people whether they were freedom fighters, thinkers or even the farmers. He was very articulate and considerate in expressing his thoughts. His talk was authentic and could move the whole nation into action.

Who is a Thought Leader? What is Thought Leadership Marketing?

by Mayur Bhat | Mar 25, 2017 | Branding, Content Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Public relations

You might have come across the term Thought Leader in big events, the media, newspapers or websites. But Who is a Thought Leader? What does he do? You’ve probably heard people saying Bill Gates is a Thought Leader or Steve Jobs is a Thought Leader. Does that mean you have to build a multi-billion dollar organisation to become one?
Well, not exactly. Although, that is one way to go about it.

Who is a Thought Leader? What does a Thought Leader Do?

A Thought Leader is a reliable, informed Opinion Leader and a go-to person in his/her field of expertise or domain. He/She is a trusted source of information and guidance, who moves and inspires people with innovative ideas, turns ideas into reality. He/She works, not just for the benefit of his organisation, but for the betterment of the domain and the entire eco-system. They address and solve some of the biggest problems faced by the eco-system.

Thought Leaders can be an individual, a group or an organisation.

Are You a Thought Leader?

Well, it’s a simple checklist.

Are you making a difference to the community/ecosystem?
Do you have revolutionary/break-through ideas?
Do startups, business owners, media or people at large, seek your guidance/consultation in a particular field?
Are you called upon to solve large problems?
Do you inspire people/organisations to make a difference to the community/ecosystem?

If you have a few of these checked, chances are, you’re a Thought Leader.

What is Thought Leadership Marketing?

Thought Leadership Marketing is the craft of positioning yourself or your organization as a constant source of guidance, innovation, and compelling, reliable content, thereby attaining the status of a Thought Leader.

How to Become a Thought Leader?

A word of caution, this does not happen overnight. It is a long, persistent effort. But the journey is always rewarding for you and the organisation. One sure way is through Thought Leadership Marketing. Your company can be viewed in the same way by creating content that resonates with your customers and members of your industry.

One sure way is through Thought Leadership Marketing. There are 5 aspects to it.

Great Branding (Personal or Company)

How you position your organisation is everything. It addresses your brand’s mission, it’s goals, it’s domain, it’s target audience and it’s USP. This is the first thing that needs to be done as it sets hygiene in place and it becomes the foundation for all the other activities. People need to know who they are dealing with and what they believe in.

Content Marketing

They say ‘Content is King’. I know, I know. It’s cliched. But it never gets old because it’s true. Your content drivers all your other activities. What people seek from you is information, consistently. There’s not getting around that. It is one of the most effective ways to convey your value proposition, your contributions, and your mission.

Public Relations

People underestimate the value of public relations. It is Earned Media and it demands reverence. A journalist’s credibility is on the line when they write something, and they have a huge expectation from the publication and their readers to give them credible, compelling information. Getting covered in the right publication could be one of the most valuable additions in your Thought Leadership Marketing Campaign.

Social Media

Social Media is an affordable platform to reach a vast majority of your target audience (depending on your domain). It is probably the easiest way to get your message across the masses. It goes without saying that the social media posts need to be interesting. Quora, Reddit, and some other forums go a long way in establishing your value. (We advise a word of caution when using social media because you are accountable for what you say.)

Events

Nothing beats meeting your peers, followers face to face. It establishes a connect unlike any other. Finding a speaking slot at relevant events and delivering a meaningful, relevant speech can be extremely effective in certifying your domain expertise. When you deliver one good speech, people tend to invite you for more speaking slots.

But remember, with great power comes great responsibility. It is a thought leaders duty to work towards the betterment of the domain and the eco-system.

If you found this blog useful, we would love to have a conversation with you and hear about it. If I have missed out something, please feel free to write it in the comments section.

Public Relations as an Influencer Marketing tool

by Mangal Karnad | Jan 5, 2017 | Influencer Marketing, Public relations

Wikipedia defines Public Relations as ‘The practice of managing the spread of information between an individual or an organisation and the public’.

Simply put, PR is getting media to write stories or articles about your company, products and services on a positive note so that your prospects get to know about it. These stories or articles are not paid for.

The stories get written when the reporters get to know you and your company and see the value your products and services can provide to their readers. A good reporter will also research on his own, to ensure that their readers get authentic information.

PR is an effective influencer marketing tool for quite a few reasons:

Newspaper reading is habit forming. Most people tend to stick to a certain publication. They form their preferences for reporters and feel that if the reporter is writing about your company, you must be doing something worthwhile. Media and reporters rank highly as Influencers. It is the credibility of the publication and the reporter which makes the article authentic.

PR has high credibility – Tweet that.

PR has a greater shelf life – longevity. An article gets shared and referred to if it strikes a chord in the reader.

PR has a wide reach – Sometimes, your story which appeared in a local publication might get picked up by a trade publication or national media and get wide visibility.

PR is almost free – The cost incurred is for the resources. It is the manpower and time dedicated to researching the right kind of publications and getting to know the reporters of those publications. An investment made also to create content to be shared with them.

There are also spends – for hiring a good PR consultant, to create ‘news-worthy’ stories, press releases dissemination, to meet and greet media etc.

PR is also called Earned media. It helps establish you and your company as subject matter experts. It helps create awareness among prospective customers who read about your company in media.

How can a start-up or an SME practice Public Relations?

Great PR requires creativity, careful planning & persistent effort – Tweet that.

You don’t need to be a large corporation to invest in Public Relations. Even a start-up or an SME can practice PR by following the steps listed below:

A simple approach to practice PR:

Get a good understanding of the publications and reporters that write about your industry.
Read the articles/stories written by the reporter you are pursuing. If you like his stories, let him know by either writing a mail or commenting online about it. Follow him/her on social media. Share the article with your prospective customers if relevant.
If you have a good idea for an article, create a short but concise note on the idea and reach out to a reporter. There is a possibility that your story idea will be turned down. Try to find out the reason and improve your pitch for the next idea. You may succeed eventually and the same reporter might end up treating you as a source of reliable information on an ongoing basis.
Most reporters work against a tight timeline. If and when the reporter reaches out to you for a story or a quote, be sensitive to timelines. If, for some reason you are unable to provide the information, keep the reporter informed in advance.
Be persistent without being a pest. Understand what’s the right time to call the reporter. Know his pressures and be of help.
Remember to thank a reporter when he writes about you or your company. Share the article on your social platforms. Share it with every stakeholder to ensure it reaches everyone that matters.

PR can be more effective then advertising. PR is an effort intensive but high return marketing tool.

We provide PR as a service or provide consulting service to ensure quick and definite results!

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